Tales from the Ravenclaw Common Room
by KitLee
Summary: A look at those enigmatic Ravenclaws, starting with individual profiles of Lisa Turpin, Sue Li, Mandy Brocklehurst, Izzy MacDougal, and Padma Patil. New! Lisa gets her first crush (and it's a bad one).
1. Lisa Turpin

Disclaimer: All recognizable characteristics belong to J.K. Rowling, not me. However, I do own everything else, including personalities for these undeveloped characters. So please, ask before borrowing.  
  
A/N: This began as an idea for FictionAlley, but I decided to post it here first because it doesn't really fit into a category right now. Anyway, I am a proud Ravenclaw, and I want more publicity for my housemates. Thanks go out to everyone in the FAP -- Sophism board; I couldn't have done it without you, your inspiration, and your ideas. As always, R/R!  
  
Lisa Turpin  
by KitLee  
  
It was after dinner in the Ravenclaw Common Room. Lisa Turpin and her best friend Terry Boot were sitting together, going over their History of Magic and Astronomy homework. Throughout the rest of the common room, the other Ravenclaws were likewise doing something studious and productive. Quidditch Captain Cho Chang, a year older than Terry and Lisa, was reviewing school Quidditch statistics for the past seven years. Stewart Ackerly, a second year, was studying "A Beginner's Guide to Magical Medicine." First year Gary Pullman was sitting in a corner practicing his fife. (His mother made him play.) Stephen Cornfoot and Kevin Entwhistle were sparing with sticks in the corner closest to the boys' dormitory while reciting the ingredients for various potions (their way of studying for a potions test). The largest group of fifth years -- Mandy Brocklehurst, Sue Li, Isabel MacDougal, and Padma Patil -- had pulled several comfortable papasan chairs in a circle near the fire and were reviewing the week's notes for all subjects. All in all, it was a perfectly normal and peaceful Friday evening.  
  
However, Terry Boot was having trouble concentrating on the Wizards' Convention of 1313. He found his attention to be wandering, as it had been ever since the beginning of the year. As if attracted by a spell, Terry found his head unconsciously turning to watch the girls near the fire. And then (the horror!) Terry would find himself unable to turn back to his history book and instead stare and gape at Mandy Brocklehurst. In the midst of the seventeenth of such unwanted reveries, Terry found his attention jolted back to history when Lisa hit him on the head with her history book.  
  
"Ow! Hey!" Terry protested, rubbing his short brown hair.  
  
"Pay attention," Lisa ordered. "There's no way I can do well in Binns' class without your help, and I am not about to fail just because you have a crush on Mandy."  
  
Terry felt his face burn. He quickly hid behind the book and protested, "I am not. What makes you say that?"  
  
"Hmm, just the fact that you haven't been able to keep your eyes off of her ever since school started," Lisa said exasperatedly. "Honestly! If you like her, just ask her to go in a couple weeks to Hogsmeade with her. If you don't, stop staring at her all the time. She'll think you're weird."  
  
"I can't help it," Terry said, his voice softening as his eyes slid once again on Mandy's short blonde hair and dark brown eyes. "She's just so perfect. She's so smart and kind and . . ."  
  
Lisa hit him again, this time with her collapsable silver telescope (a fifteenth birthday present from her grandmother). The hit was gentler this time, not because she didn't want to hurt his head, but because she didn't want to hurt the telescope.  
  
"Snap out of it, will you? It's bad enough that Stephen likes Megan Jones from Hufflepuff and Kevin has a thing for Hermione Granger from Gryffindor. I never thought that you would. You always seemed too smart for that junk."  
  
Terry shrugged. He wanted to go back to daydreaming that he and Mandy were a couple, but feared Lisa's hits too much. Besides, he reasoned, she might start messing up his books or homework. Like a good Ravenclaw, he bent back over his parchment to complete his essay: 1313, A Pivotal Year.  
  
"Speaking of Gryffindor," Lisa said casually, "I heard a rumor that Potter's graduating early this year to go fight You-Know-Who."  
  
"Really?" Terry asked, interested.  
  
Lisa nodded. "But it's probably just another stupid rumor," she added quickly.  
  
Terry nodded resignedly. "Probably. I wish Potter would graduate early, though. That would be perfect, since my parents said that I can't skip ahead."  
  
"I don't know why you're so obsessed with being Head Boy," Lisa commented. "It's just a silly title. After graduation, it doesn't really mean anything."  
  
"Of course it does!" Terry exclaimed. "If you're Head Boy or Girl, you can put that on your resume, and you have a better chance of getting a good job if you have that. Besides, it doesn't seem fair that I don't even have a chance just because of when I was born."  
  
Sue Li, overhearing their conversation, came over. "Of course you do, Terry," she said briskly. "Just like I have a chance of being Head Girl."  
  
Lisa laughed. "I don't think either of you can beat Dumbledore's favorite boy and girl. Potter's had Head Boy wrapped up since before he could walk, and I think Hermione's title of Head Girl was pretty much set in stone after the events with Quirrell."  
  
Sue scowled. "Ever Li since practically the beginning of time has been Head Boy or Girl, and I don't intend to break the tradition. Besides, my grades are as good or better than Granger's."  
  
"Or a little worse," Terry added. "You have to admit that, Sue."  
  
She nodded almost imperceptibly. "But not much worse," she pointed out.  
  
"True, true," Terry said. "And while I may not be able to beat Potter on the Quidditch field, I can beat him in the classroom. My grades are nearly the best in our year." He smiled proudly. "At least if I do loose to Potter, I will have at least made Prefect."  
  
Sue shrugged. "I still don't see why everyone assumes that Potter will be Head Boy. His grades aren't that good; and if he makes it, won't it seem like favortism?"  
  
"But his grades aren't bad," Terry pointed out. "And he is a hero. I think the hero card out-trumps the grade card any day."  
  
Lisa gave a loud and exaggerated yawn. Terry and Sue didn't even look up, so intent they were in debating Head Boy and Girl. Personally, Lisa didn't care that much. Whatever happened, would happen, and Lisa wasn't about to waste valuable time fussing over it. She rose and, grabbing her books, walked over to Mandy, Padma, and Isabel's group near the fire, dodging the dueling Stephen and Kevin.  
  
"Hi Mandy, hi Padma, hi Izzy," Lisa said.  
  
"Hi Lisa," Mandy said cheerfully. Padmai nodded her greeting before turning back to Potions.  
  
Izzy smiled and said, "So, tired of Terry's not-so brilliant conversation?"  
  
Lisa nodded. "When Sue came over to debate Head Boy/Girl, I decided to give up and hang out with more human people."  
  
Izzy grinned. "That's probably our fault. Sue was going on and on about that, so we steered her towards a sympathetic ear."  
  
Lisa plopped down in Sue's vacated chair. "That's okay. I'll just bother you guys instead of Terry."  
  
Padma and Mandy exchanged a look.  
  
"What?" Lisa asked, confused.  
  
"Nothing," Mandy said quickly, too quickly.  
  
"We were just wondering if the rumors were true," Padma exclaimed.  
  
"What rumors?" Lisa asked, opening her History of Magic notes and glaring at them. History was her worst subject.  
  
"Well --" Mandy began.  
  
"That Terry and you are a couple," Padma interrupted.  
  
"A couple of what?" Lisa asked, staring blankly at them. Then comprehension dawned on her, and she exclaimed far too loudly, "No!"   
  
People around the room looked up to stare and her, and Lisa blushed and tried to hide under her notes.  
  
"No, of course not," she repeated, this time much softer.   
  
"Really?" Mandy asked, cocking her head to one side as she did when thinking. "You make such a sweet couple."  
  
Lisa was seized the strong impulse to tell Mandy the real person of Terry's affections, but then shed the impulse. Terry would hate her forever if she did anything like that. So instead, Lisa only shrugged and said, "Well, we aren't dating and probably never will."  
  
"Probably?" Padma asked, arching one eyebrow. "Does that mean that perhaps --"  
  
"Good God, no," Lisa said. "I'd rather be tortured by Death Eaters or go to a dance with a dementor."  
  
Izzy giggled.  
  
Mandy frowned, thinking hard. "But Terry seems so nice," she protested.  
  
"Oh, he is," Lisa said gesturing with one hand. "But I would never be his girlfriend. He has such high expectations for whoever fills that position. As much as he would deny it, Terry can be a bit of a romantic. He believes in marrying your Hogwarts sweetheart and living happily ever after."  
  
As the other three girls ruminated on this bit of information, Lisa noticed that Sue Li was leaving Terry and heading back towards Mandy, Izzy, and Padma. Lisa took that opportunity to rise and gather up her books again.  
  
"Well, I guess this is my signal to leave. I'll see you later," Lisa said.  
  
"No, stay," Izzy protested.  
  
"I'll just pull up another chair," Sue suggested, holding up her wand to do so. Lisa silenced her by raising her hand.  
  
"Really, that's okay. I'm just going to go back and study with Terry." With that, Lisa strode back across the room, once again dodging sweaty Steven and Kevin.  
  
"I'm ba-ack," Lisa sang out as she dumped her books down in the chair next to Terry.  
  
"Oh, yeah," Terry said in surprise. "Where did you go?"  
  
Lisa rolled her eyes. "I went over there to avoid the great Head Boy/Girl debate and to see Padma, Izzy, and Mandy." Lisa carefully watched Terry's face as she said the last name. Just as she'd expected, Terry's ears burned red.  
  
His voice could not hold steady as he tried to casually ask, "Oh, and what did you say to them?" His voice shot up an octave. "You didn't tell them about my, um, my --"  
  
"You're what?" Lisa feigned confusion.  
  
"You know what," Terry insisted shrilly, his voice rising in pitch but dropping in volume. "Do I have to spell it out for you?"  
  
Lisa smiled at his blankly. "I really have no idea --" she began.  
  
Terry interrupted her impatiently, "My crush on Mandy!" he hissed. "Okay, are you happy now?"  
  
Lisa grinned. "Very," she told him. "And no," she hastily added as she saw his darkening face. "I didn't say anything about your crush."  
  
Terry sighed with relief. "Thank God," he muttered before going back to his books.  
  
"So, are you just never going to tell her?" Lisa asked after a while.  
  
"I will; I will. I'm just waiting for the right moment. Besides, maybe I just like enjoying my crush in peace."  
  
Lisa shrugged. "If I were you, I would tell her."  
  
"You'll understand once you get your first crush," Terry said, sagely.  
  
Lisa rolled her eyes. "Well, if you can spare some of that sage wisdom, I need your help on some more mundane things, Oh Love Guru."  
  
A/N: And so with that, this glimpse at the life of a Ravenclaw comes to an end. Being good Ravenclaws, they will do all of their homework and then go to bed at a reasonable hour. I hope that you have enjoyed this look into their lives. Like the other students, Ravenclaws eat, sleep, do their homework, and fall in love as I've shown here. Perhaps Terry will get together with Mandy? Perhaps he will get together with Lisa? (Of course first she'll have to be interrogated by Death Eaters and go to a dance with a dementor.) Who knows for sure? Maybe we'll all find out in the next installment of: Tales from the Ravenclaw Common Room. 


	2. Sue Li

Sue Li  
  
It was a Wednesday evening in November. Outside a storm raged, but inside the Ravenclaw Common Room it was warm and pleasant. The fire in the fireplace crackled and glowed, shedding warmth nicely throughout the room. The floor-to-ceiling bookshelves had many holes in it where studious Ravenclaws had borrowed the books for studying, some of whom were still perched upon the rolling ladders that they had used to reach the top.   
  
Fifth-year Sue Li slammed down her quill and turned her face upward in a cry of frustration. Spread before her, in a neat quarter of the table, was four and a half years' worth of Charms notes. Her friends Mandy Brocklehurst, Isabel MacDougal, and Padma Patil looked up from their notes.  
  
"Problems Sue?" Izzy asked. Out of the four of them, Izzy was the sweetest.  
  
"It's just this darn Charms homework," she said, pointing accusingly at her parchment. "I can't figure it out."  
  
"Try the shelves," practical Padma suggested.  
  
Sue shook her head. "I've already tried them a million times," she wailed. "It's just not there."  
  
"So look in the main library," Padma said, going back to her own homework.  
  
"I don't want to," Sue said petulantly. Knowing how foolish she sounded, she quickly added, "The corridors are going to be freezing tonight, and I'm sure the library's full of noisy first years."  
  
"So go quickly," Padma said. Turning to Izzy she asked, "Did you get the last few pages of the Transfiguration notes yesterday? Professor Flitwick pulled me out then."  
  
"Sure," Izzy said. She pushed some papers aside and pulled a a sploched piece of parchment. "I think I spilled some of my ink on it, though."  
  
"Never mind," Padma told her. She poked Mandy with her wand who was doodling on a piece of parchment. "Mandy? Can I see your Transfiguration notes from yesterday?"  
  
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, sure," Mandy said distractedly. She pulled the notes out of her schoolbag.   
  
Sue stood up slowly and gathered some of her books and parchment. "Well," she said loudly, "I guess I'll be off then." She paused. None of her friends paid any attention. "I'll be back soon, in case anyone wonders." Still no response. Sighing loudly, she left with a dramatic swish of her long black hair.  
  
Through the chilly corridors Sue hurried up to the library. Although the Ravenclaw Common Room had its own large collection of volumes, it was not as complete as the school library. Upon entering the library, Sue headed straight for the section on Charms, trying to avoid the pockets of giggly and silly students. Two Gryffindor second-years were actually playing catch!  
  
She pulled several helpful-looking volumes and looked around for a quiet corner where she could get the information and quickly leave. She grabbed a table near the door and began pouring over the books, muttering to herself as she worked.  
  
"I couldn't help but overhear," a voice behind her said, "And it would work better if you did it this way." A hand reached over and began writing on Sue's parchemnt. She looked up to find the identity of the interloper, and -- surprise, surprise -- she looked at Hermione Granger's face.  
  
"There," Hermione said. "That works, see?"  
  
Sue looked at the paper and yes, Hermione had solved her problem.   
  
"Thanks," she mumbld. With her eraser, she furiously erased the work that Hermione had done on her paper.  
  
"No, don't do that!" Hermione said. "Why are you doing that? I showed you how to do it."  
  
"Did I ask for your help?" Sue asked, trying to sound calm, but even in her ears the words sounded rude.  
  
Hermione frowned. "Sorry," she said. "It just sounded like you needed some help."  
  
"Oh, and you were the one to give it," Sue said sarcastically. "Look, Hermione, if I want your help, I'll ask for it. Or maybe you can ask me if I want it." Seeing the look on her face, Sue suddenly laughed. "Do you even know my name?"  
  
"Well . . . no," Hermione admitted. "But you're a Ravenclaw," she said.  
  
Sue forced down the snide comment, instead saying, "It's Sue. Sue Li."  
  
"Hello Sue," Hermione said politely. "I don't see why you're so angry with me," she said.  
  
"I guess I shouldn't be. After all, what else should I have expected from you."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Well, you know, you have a reputation for this sort of thing."  
  
"What sort of thing?"  
  
"Being a -- you mean you really don't know?"  
  
"No. Tell me."  
  
"Nah. It wouldn't be polite, and one of us should be."  
  
"I was not being rude!"  
  
"Yes you were. You just walked right up and started correcting me -- a girl you don't even know."  
  
"That's not being rude. That's being helpful. Besides, I'm a prefect. It's part of my job to help students."  
  
Sue pointed to her own shiny badge, half-hidden by her long, straight black hair. "So am I. You don't see me barging up to strangers and writing on their homework, do you?"  
  
"You shouldn't be so rude," Hermione said. "If you think I'm being so annoying, I'll leave." She stomped off.  
  
"Thank God," Sue muttered, going back to her homework. She had peace for only about two minutes, though, before Hermione came back.  
  
"And what do you mean my reputation?" she demanded.  
  
"Nothing. Nevermind. Just forget about it."  
  
"No, I can't. Please, tell me. You obviously meant something by that, and I want to know what it is."  
  
Sue was getting annoyed by Hermione and her interruptions. "Fine Hermione. You want to know what I meant? Here it is." She stood and busied herself with gathering her things together. Once she was done, she stood and looked Hermione right in the eye. "Everyone here at Hogwarts think that you are a nosey bitch who needs to learn to mind her own business and stop flaunting her intelligence in everyone's face. You're not even that smart, so stop acting like it." With that, Sue turned and walked out of the library, happy to have finally told Hermione Granger exactly what she thought of her.  
  
The feeling of satisfaction lasted about half a floor. Sue was standing on the stairs by the library, filled with guilt over having let her temper get the best of her. She debated going back up to the library, and finally her conscience got the best of her. She ran up the stairs and all the way to the library. Quietly, she walked back in and looked for Hermione. She finally found her at a table with her friend Ron and Harry -- crying.  
  
"Don't worry, Hermione," Harry said. "She's just jealous of you; that's all."  
  
"Yeah," Ron said. " You shouldn't believe a word she says. Nobody likes that Sue Li anyway."  
  
"She sounds really mean, too," Harry said. "Almost as bad as Malfoy."  
  
"You're much smarter than her anyway. Harry's right. She's just a mean and jealous person," Ron said.  
  
Sue stood there for a while longer, hearing them comfort Hermione. Feeling like a spy, she slowly walked out and back to the Ravenclaw Common Room.  
  
The scene before her was pretty much the same as always. She sat back down with her friends.  
  
"Hi Sue," Izzy said cheerfully. "Did you find what you needed?"  
  
"Hmm, oh yes," Sue said distractedly.  
  
Izzy put down her quill. "What's wrong Sue?" she asked.  
  
For a moment, Sue felt tempted to tell them everything and ask if everyone really did hate her. But instead, she just smiled slightly. "Nothing." 


	3. Mandy Brocklehurst

Mandy Brocklehurst  
by KitLee  
  
Disclaimer: All recognizable things aren't mine. They belong to the great J.K. Rowling. Everything else is mine, so don't take without asking.  
  
Author's Note: I'm writing this one in first person rather than third like the others for a reason. I want to show exactly what it's like for Mandy, inside her head and everything. Her friends think that she is nice, but a little odd. This is why. It is considerably darker than the others, so be warned.  
  
  
Sitting in the common room. Homework spread in front: Astronomy, Ancient Runes, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms. Did Transfiguration.  
  
Want to become an animagi. Would become a bird to fly away -- something small but powerful. Falco peregrinus. Peregrin Falcon. Always wanted to fly away. Brooms not count.  
  
Quidditch team did well. Lisa on team. Me reserve keeper, good at blocking but bad at concentrating. Davies yelled at me at try-outs for failing to block two easy shots after blocking three hard ones in a row. Tried to explain mind elsewhere, contemplating Defense Against the Dark Arts.   
  
Why I like Defense Against the Dark Arts: 1, can protect me. 2, Lupin was attractive. 3, Lupin could protect me. 4, Dark Arts easy to fight. Not like other things.  
  
Try to avoid thinking of other things. Think of nice things, like homework. Lean forward to finish Astronomy chart. 35.2% mind on Astronomy. 45.1% mind on Ancient Runes, will do next, difficult but still interesting despite Vector's imapatience with mind. 11.2% mind on Sue's rant. 8.5% still on other things. Try to decrease it to normal 5% by thinking about Professor Lupin.  
  
Why I like Astronomy: 1, Stars safe. 2, Sinistra not mad if mind is elsewhere. 3, Stars don't hurt.  
  
Lupin wouldn't hurt. Too gentle and sweet. Want to find portal to send self to his time. Would make good girlfriend for him. Would even let him touch me.  
  
No good guys for boyfriends. Only friends. KevinandStephen too immature and boyish. Terry too serious. None attractive enough. None could protect.  
  
Boys however like me. Have gotten dating proposals from Kevin and Stephen, four total. Stephen especially stubborn. Think I'm pretty. I wish I weren't. It can be dangerous to be too pretty.  
  
Mind wanders . . . over 10% focusing on Other Things. Begin to slip into Remembering. All so clearly.  
Daddy, what are you doing?  
Nothing princess. You trust your daddy, don't you?  
Of course Daddy.  
Good. You are so beautiful like your mother, Katherine.  
Strokes, touches. Not good. Not right. More whispers.  
Hold still Katherine, and it will all be over soon.  
Whimper in fear. Squirm to get away. Not help.  
Glint in his eye. Wand pointed at my head. Crucio.  
You'll be a good girl, Katherine, or you'll be punished.  
Can't scream or it will be worse. Lie in terror. Finally curse stops.  
Will you be a good girl now, Katherine?  
Nod yes. Nod yes and it will all be over soon.  
Good girl.  
More touches. Try to block it out. Stare at ceiling. Enchanted to be constantly changing daytime sky. Clouds float overhead. Want to fly away forever. Never come back.  
  
Finally he finishes. He slowly rises, dropping one last kiss on my forehead. To the random observer, it could be called only normal and sweet. He goes into his own room. I want to cry, but I can't. There is no hope that anyone will ever see my tears and rescue me. Mother is dead, in childbirth with me. I have no other family besides him. There is no one who would take my side against my father, a well-respected official of the Ministry of Magic.  
  
Some students fear the Dark Lord and the Dark Arts. I do not. For I have learned that there are many forces far worse, forces far more difficult to defend against. I told Izzy about it all once. She is my truest friend. She would never tell anyone. She knows what it is like to carry a dark secret around, unable to show it the light for fear of the darkness consuming it. But she is lucky. She escaped permanently. Hogwarts is my only escape. Here I can be myself, Amanda "Mandy" Brocklehurst, not Katherine. Not my mother.  
  
Terry Boot approaches table. Stammers mindlessly. I look at him. Nice, not terribly cute. Gentle. A good friend.  
  
Izzy says that he wants more than friendship. I wish I could. I wish I could try a normal relationship with a male of the species. But I am broken with nothing to give. He is young and fresh. Lisa would be a good match for him. The light thrives in her without any dark spots, while I am the opposite. Darkness threatens my heart every day, and it is only through the unspoken strength and support of the Ravenclaws that I can fight it. 


	4. Izzy MacDougal

Isabel MacDougal  
by KitLee  
  
It was shortly before the Christmas holidays. Izzy and her best friends Mandy, Padma, and Sue were sitting around a large table in the common room. For once the fifth year Ravenclaws had not had much homework dumped onto them, and the girls were taking full advantage of the rare breather. Padma was reading a book by famous Ravenclaw, J.R.R. Tolkein. Lisa and Sue were intently battling each other in chess, Mandy was staring off into space pausing to occassionally scribble in the huge notebook that nobody was ever allowed to see, and Izzy was busily working in her own notebook. Unlike Mandy, who's scribbles consisted of numerous daydreams, stories, and doodles, Izzy kept her notebook and perfect structured as her own mind. At the moment, she was working on one of her many pro/con lists.  
  
SUBJECT: Remaining at Hogwarts v. Going Home  
PROS  
1. Time to work on extra-credit essays  
2. Will have common room/library to self  
3. Can talk to professors w/o interruptions  
CONS  
1. No friends staying  
2. Very few Ravenclaws staying  
3. No peers to help with work  
  
She studied the list and tried to assign points to each item, then add them up. Cons won, 15-12. She considered loneliness to outweigh the possible benefits. Of course, she wasn't consciously including the real reasons. If she were, then the scale would overwhelmingly tip towards the pros.   
  
The best Christmas had been the past one when she had gone to stay with Mandy Brocklehurst. Mandy's father had been gone nearly all of the time, coming home during the day to sleep at odd hours before going right back to work. This was especially good for the girls. They had spent hours in the Brocklehurst family library and playing on the grounds of the estate. There was a house elf to cook the finest meals and to do the girls' laundry. She had been with the Brocklehursts since Mandy's birth, and she clearly prefered Mandy over Mr. Brocklehurst.   
  
This year, though, there could be no such trip. Mr. Brocklehurst would be home, and Mandy refused to let Izzy come. Of their other friends, there was no one else Izzy wanted to spend the holidays with. Padma's Gryffindor sister Parvati would be there with her giggly friend Lavender; and frankly if Sue's family was as competitive and neurotic about grades as Sue was, Izzy did not want to spend an extended period of time with them. And going home was no longer a preferable option.  
  
As an child, Izzy had been raised by her aunt Danielle. However, when she was ten, she had suddenly died. Death Eaters. Not just any Death Eaters, but Danielle's own sister and brother-in-law, Izzy's parents.  
  
She shivered in the warm common room. They had been quite disappointed upon finding her after years of searching. Her aunt, horrified by the actions of her sister and brother-in-law, had kidnapped Izzy when she was an infant to be raised free from the Dark Arts. There, Izzy had flourished and developed a strong love of knowledge for its own sake. But upon her aunt's death, Izzy's parents regained custody of her. She had learned then that her name was not Isabel Saunders but Morag MacDougal. Even now she wasn't used to it, preferring to go by her middle name Isabel.   
  
Izzy felt guilty about preferring Hogwarts over home, but it was not difficult for her to do so. Home was a place where her parents expressed constant disdain and scorn for her. They had been especially distressed when she had been sorted into Ravenclaw. Especially now that You-Know-Who had risen, Izzy hated being at home with all of her parents' Death Eater friends.  
  
Izzy sighed and stared at the paper again. Absently she flipped through her notebook. She had carefully scheduled her time for the next day as well as every other day that week. That was the way Izzy worked. Her friends teased her for being neurotically organized, but in truth Izzy couldn't concentrate otherwise. She had a hard enough time as it was grasping even the simplest concepts; she didn't want to have to work through her own disorganization.  
  
Izzy sighed, this time loudly enough to cause her friends to look up from their activities.  
  
"What's the matter Izzy?" Mandy asked.  
  
"Oh, it's nothing. I just can't decide whether to stay here for Christmas break." She tried to make her dilema sound small, but her quavering voice betrayed her.  
  
"Oh, that's too bad," Mandy said. The other girls exchanged looks. They all knew the reason why Izzy was so upset over this, but they were content to let it remain unspoken. Lisa, however, did not understand.  
  
"What's the big deal?" Lisa asked. "If you don't want to stay, you can go home."  
  
"That's not it," Izzy said dully.  
  
"Then what is it?" Lisa demanded. Her overly curious nature got the best of her. "Why are you so upset?"  
  
There was a long silence before Izzy finally admitted, "My parents are Death Eaters."  
  
Lisa blinked in surprise. "Is that all?"  
  
"What do you mean, is that all?" Padma asked. "That sounds pretty big to me."  
  
"Oh, that's not how I meant it," Lisa said quickly. "I was just expecting something worse. I mean, you can go someplace else, right?"  
  
Izzy nodded. "I went to spend Christmas with Mandy last year."  
  
"She can't come," Mandy said dully.  
  
"Oh. Okay. Why don't you come home with me?" Lisa asked.   
  
"With you?" Izzy asked. She mentally began adding up the Pros and Cons.  
  
Lisa shrugged. "Sure. We have a huge house with tons of extra rooms. I've got four older brothers and two older sisters, but they're not at home anymore." She glanced around at the others. She had lately been feeling lonely for friends besides Terry, who was a boy and weird. "You can all come, if you like. My parents like kids and noise and stuff."  
  
Izzy felt herself grin. "Okay. I will." Happily, she picked up her quill and began writing a letter.  
  
Dear Mother and Father,  
I will be unable to come home this Christmas . . . 


	5. Padma Patil

Padma Patil  
  
Holidays were the only times she and her sister could be twins.   
  
At school they were in different classes with different schedules, classes, friends, and dorms. Padma barely felt Parvati's presence at Hogwarts. She had her Ravenclaw friends, and Parvati had her Gryffindor friends. When Padma got a 110% on an exam, or Parvati saw something in Divination, it the other was not with whom they shared the good news. And in part, Padma was still saddened by this. She recalled the happy days of childhood that she and Parvati had spent together, studying together, whispering secrets long after bedtime, facing all of life's troubles together. Together, that was the key. Now they weren't together, and after four and a half years not being together, it still hurt.  
  
And now they were losing the holidays. It wasn't as if a few weeks or months out of the year could make up for being 24 hours/day, 365 days/year best friends, but at least it had been something. Padma had never invited friends over during the holidays or gone over to a friend's house because that would mean excluding Parvati, but apparantly Parvati did not have such qualms. Over Christmas of their fifth year, Parvati invited her best friend, Lavander Brown, to stay.  
  
Padma watched with growing dread as she Lavander and Parvati dragged Lavander's things up the stairs to Parvati's room, laughing and giggling the whole time. If there was one noise Padma detested, it was mindless giggling. With a resigned sigh, Padma trailed up the stairs with them and headed for the solitude of her own room.  
  
When they were eight, the girls had petitioned for their own room. Their brother was grown and no longer needed his room, so why not give it to Padma or Parvati? In the end, Padma had been the one to move to Arjun's room. The girls both had gotten to decorate their rooms. Parvati had chosen pale pink with silver swirls moving through the paint, and Padma had chosen to line the walls with wooden bookshelves and paint the ceiling dark blue with stars. "That's my girls," their father had said, "Padma's a regular bookworm, and Parvati's as sweet as an angel."  
  
Now Padma stared up at the ceiling, identifying the constellations Leo, Aquarius, and Orion, while wondering where everything had changed. She and Parvati had begun the same, and even as they had slowly grown apart they had still been best friends, but now it seemed as if they would never be able to regain the old closeness that they had once shared.  
  
At dinner that night, Padma just pushed the food around on the plate while having to listen to Lavender's ridiculous claims about the Sight.  
  
"And Professor Trewlawney can tell that Parvati and I have the true Sight," Lavender explained eagerly, "because we're just so good at Divination."  
  
The Patil parents smiled, pleased that Parvati had finally found a subject in which to excel, but Padma rolled her eyes. Divination! Everyone knew that true seers were very rare, and Professor Sibyl Trelawney was definitely not one of them. But when she tried to explain this to Parvati, she had only gotten angry.  
  
"You don't understand Padma," she'd snapped. "You don't have the Sight. You're just jealous that I'm better than you at a subject."  
  
It wasn't until that angry comment that Padma realized just how hard it must have been for Parvati. All the twins' lives they had been told that Padma was the brains and talent, and Parvati was the sweet and good girl. "Padma'll make a great witch someday," their father used to brag to his colleagues.  
  
"What about me Daddy?" Parvati asked once.  
  
"You princess?" their father had asked surprised. "Why, you'll be a wonderful, perfect little wife and mother for a lucky family."  
  
And that was the way the sisters had always worked out. Padma read and studied, and Parvati played. At school, Parvati had always been the center of attention and the most popular girl in school, but she'd always pulled her sister up the social ladder with her.  
  
"So, do you take Divination?" Lavander asked Padma politely.  
  
"Um, no," Padma said, fighting the impulse to add that it was a stupid class, "I take Ancient Runes and Arithmancy."  
  
"Oh right, you're a Ravenclaw, aren't you?" Lavender asked. "I hear it's awfully dull there," she added conversationally.  
  
"It's fine," Padma snapped. She glared at her twin. "I guess I'm just so dull that I don't notice. Will you excuse me? I have to go do some homework." Without waiting for an answer, Padma stormed upstairs. Behind her, she could hear her mother say, "That's our Padma. She's such a good little student."  
  
In her room, Padma threw the pillows against the wall. How dare she! She could just imagine the kinds of horrible things that Parvati said about her in the Gryffindor Common Room. Gossiping about how horribly dull and uninteresting and nerdish she was. That was probably why Lavender got the invitation -- because Parvati was tired to being twins with a Ravenclaw.  
  
Late that night, Padma was awoken by a light knock on the door, followed by a quick whisper, "Padma? Are you awake?"  
  
Padma lay silent and closed her eyes. The door opened slightly and in slipped Parvati. She tiptoed across the room and sat on the edge of Padma's large four poster bed, identical to Parvati's.  
  
"Are you awake?" Still Padma was silent. "I just, you know, wanted to talk to you. I got the feeling you were mad at me. Padma, please don't me mad at me. I don't know what I did -- but I'm sorry, okay? Okay Padma? I know you're not sleeping."  
  
"S'okay," Padma whispered.  
  
Parvati nodded slightly. She got up to leave, then changed her mind and crawled into bed next to her sister. Just like old times, she began the same old way. Maybe things could never be exactly the same as before, and maybe the occurrance of fights would become more often, but as long as they had each other, they could always capture at least for a short while the magic of their childhood twinness.  
  
"Tell me something you'll never tell anyone else . . . " 


	6. How the Mighty Fall

How the Mighty Fall  
  
Lisa had ridiculed Terry endlessly for his crush on Mandy Brocklehurst, but that was before she got to know Matt. Matt Goodnow was a sixth year Ravenclaw, barely her height (and Lisa was not tall) with dark hair and pointy ears. He and his best friend Scott, who was a prefect, were the smartest students of their year.  
  
Lisa met them because she had been having difficulties with her extracurricular project. It was an unspoken Ravenclaw tradition to study subjects outside of classes, and she was doing a study of ancient magical traditions of various countries. She had already completed Australia, the United States, and Canada because they all spoke English, but was stumped on France. Lisa did not know French and was terrible at languages. She had expressed her difficulties to Professor Flitwick who had promised to find her an appropriate French tutor. Enter Matt, a foreign Muggle-born student.  
  
The two spent hours together, working on her French. At first she had not wanted to admit her growing feelings for him, but soon she could not deny them. She was in love, or at least in crush. She would spend the entire time that he spent with her gazing at him and listening to his perfect voice smoothly sliding out French sylables.  
  
Of course, being Ravenclaws her peers did not notice this change in Lisa, or if they did they kept quiet about it. So Lisa was left to flounder in her crush in peace. She spent hours daydreaming about him, getting a wonderful sick feeling whenever she thought of him, and thinking of something appropriately clever and witty to dazzle the smart boy. She began to feel sicker and sicker though after one morning she noticed him talking and laughing with Cho Chang. The sick feeling twisted in her stomach, and Lisa finally recognized it: jealousy. And that was when she first realized that she had a horribly large crush on Matt Goodnow.   
  
Time seemed to expand that day, as she could not focus on her homework. All she could think about was Matt and Cho and their relationship. Were they dating? She hadn't heard anything about it, but then again Lisa was not one to keep up with the gossip. She sat miserably as she contemplated that evening's French lesson.  
  
Her best friend Terry Boot came up and rapped her lightly on the head. "Lisa, what are you doing? Aren't you coming to lunch?"  
  
"I, um, I'm not that hungry," Lisa stammered. She couldn't imagine having to eat at the same table as Matt.  
  
Terry rolled his eyes. "Come on Lisa. You don't want to starve, do you?"  
  
Yes, Lisa thought, it would be preferable to have that pain as opposed to this one that twists and wrenches my heart. Aloud she said, "Fine, I'm coming." She stood and tried to force normal conversation with her best friend as her heart and mind was focused on Matt.  
  
In the Great Hall, she and Terry chose seats apart from everyone else as they always did, mainly because Lisa did not feel like suffering through conversation. Terry had noticed his friend's weird mood and was unusually silent. They filled their plates and quietly began to eat.  
  
Suddenly, three guys descended on Lisa's solitude. One of the boys she did not recognize but the others were Scott and . . . oh, damn, Matt.   
  
"Hi Lisa," Scott said as they sat down.  
  
"Hi," she said trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.  
  
The others said nothing.  
  
Lisa ducked her head and pretended to be fascinated by eating as quickly and neatly as humanly possible. Meanwhile, thoughts swirled wildly in her head.  
  
iWhat is he thinking? Why aren't they talking? Why did they sit here? Could Matt like me? Oh, he looks so good too. Why does he look so good? He's wearing the exact same thing as everyone else is school. Oh, I wish he would just talk to me. Should I talk to him? What's he doing here? Why aren't they even talking to each other?.../i  
  
Lisa longed to talk to Matt and dazzle him with her knowledge, but she just couldn't. She was too afraid. Terry kept giving her a weird look out of the corner of his eye. Finally he stood. "I'd better go Lisa. I've still got a lot of homework. I'll see you later."  
  
Quickly Lisa said, "Okay. I'm coming in a second. Just let me finish my milk."  
  
Terry didn't hear her though, and just walked off. Lisa quickly downed her milk and stood to follow her out of the dining hall. Scott stopped her, though.  
  
"So Lisa, what's McGonagall like for your Transfiguration class?"  
  
Lisa's first thought was, iHuh?/i But she found herself babbling, "Oh, um, not too bad. I mean, she's really strict, and sometimes she just talks and talks right into lunch. And she can be almost mean if someone asks what she thinks is a stupid question."  
  
Scott nodded. "That's the way she is for us too."  
  
"Oh," Lisa said, completely confused. "Well, um, I'd better go. Tons of homework."  
  
"Okay," Scott said amiably. "Bye."  
  
"Bye," Lisa said.  
  
The other boys said nothing.  
  
Lisa left the Great Hall, blushing furiously. It had been a very confusing and weird. As she left, one question kept tossing and turning through her mind, not even leaving when she went to bed that night: Why had they sat there?  
  
A/N: This is based upon my own experience with my first all-consuming crush. The event is taken from real life, but of course I have changed the names. I tried to capture the feelings and events as accurately as possible. Any and all reviews are of course welcome and desired. 


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